Onsite THiNK17: Beyond the buzzword

“Digital Transformation”: It’s been the buzzword of THiNK17 so far, but what does that actually look like?

Often times we think that if we add some digital components to our business model then we have embraced digital, we did it, we finally became digital! Unfortunately, in those cases we are confusing “digital transformation” with “digitalization”. When we add a layer of digital to a current legacy system we are upgrading it and solving some problems, but we aren’t transforming the way we operate.

We had the pleasure of hearing from Columbia University Professor and author, David Rogers today, and he gave us a breakdown of 5 key components to help you on your path to digital transformation:

Members (or really anyone you serve, such as your employees): we need to take them from being passive targets to part of our dynamic network.

Competition: pay attention to what’s around you, your competition might not look like you so you need to be able to identify them. (ie: Uber and Google can be competition for Toyota)

Data: it’s time to get the data out of silos and find outside partners who can help turn the data we have into an asset by allowing us to act quickly.

Innovation: Move away from top-down planning that is slow and expensive, to rapid experimentation so that you can fail smarter and innovate faster.

Value: Go from defending your model to adapting and changing to stay relevant.

When these 5 pieces come together then you have completely transformed your organization to be the place that people think of when they think of digital companies, alongside Google and Netflix. The path to digital transformation can be hard, but if you keep the focus on the problem that you are solving, the big picture, instead of trying to make what you have fit into place, then you’re sure to be successful.